Regular Season, Week 3 review
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Only four teams remained undefeated after three weeks of Euroleague Basketball action, while Union Olimpija's stunning upset of CSKA Moscow left a five way tie for the lead in Group A. Marko Milic's buzzer-beater saw Olimpija scalp mighty CSKA 74-72 in a stunning upset thanks to Jasmin Hukic's six three-pointers. The result handed the Russian champs their first loss and left Group A as the only one without an undefeated team. Montepaschi blew out Zalgiris 89-64, Tau Ceramica topped Prokom Trefl 66-82 and Olympiacos crushed Virtus VidiVici Bologna 104-76 to join CSKA and Olimpija in tie for the group lead. There are two teams with perfect records in Group B. Jeremiah Massey dominated to the tune of 28 points on 12-of-14 two-point shooting and 11 rebounds to lead Aris TT Bank past Cibona 77-73. And Hollis Price rose to the occasion with 25 points and 6 assists to lead Lietuvos Rytas to a 77-83 road win at Le Mans. Maccabi Elite remained one-game back by jilting former coach David Blatt and Efes Pilsen 73-67 and Unicaja remained hot by beating Armani Jeans Milano 65-74. Group C also has a pair of undefeateds after defending champion Panathinaikos edged Nikola Pekovic and Partizan Igokea 90-94 and Real Madrid's defense suffocated Brose Baskets Bamberg 49-59. Also in Group C, AXA FC Barcelona beat Chorale Roanne 82-76 and and Fenerbahce Ulker picked up its first win in an early game on Tuesday by downing Lottomatica Roma 85-66.
The giant-killers from Ljubljana, Union Olimpija, capped a special night at Tivoli Arena by sinking last season's finalist, CSKA Moscow. The sellout crowd, which saw European basketball legend Ivo Daneu honored with the retiring of his number in a pre-game ceremony, then watched as Jasmin Hukic drilled a Euroleague-career-high 6 three pointers for 23 points to lead the hosts. Olimpija trailed by 5 with two minutes to go, but Hukic and team captain Marko Milic combined for 9 points down the stretch and Milic scored over CSKA's Matjaz Smodis with 0.8 seconds remaining to win it for Olimpija.
 Olympiacos was dominant at home once again with a 104-76 blowout over Virtus VidiVici Bologna at the Peace and Friendship Arena. The trio of Arvydas Macijauskas, Marc Jackson and Qyntel Woods combined for 71 points to lead the Reds. The home team's near unstoppable attack made 66.6% of its two-point attempts (26 for 39) and shot 89.2% from the free-throw line (25 for 28).
Tau Ceramica downed Prokom Trefl Sopot 66-82 in an impressive performance on the road. Pablo Prigioni and Igor Rakocevic led the winners each with 15 points. Though it's still early in the season, it's worth noting that Tau's start is nearly identical to last season when the club lost its opener at Olympiacos, then returned home for tis first win and cruised to a big road victory in Week 3. That team went on to win 10 straight games at two points in the season and reach the Final Four.
Montepaschi Siena joined the list of Group A contenders with an 89-64 bashing of Zalgiris Kaunas. Tomas Ress came off the bench to lead five Montepaschi scorers in double figures with 16 points and Ramunas Kaukenas took over in the second half whenever Zalgiris threatened. The Italian champions are now 11-1 in all games this season.
Jeremiah Massey's outstanding performance for Aris TT Bank against Cibona did not go unnoticed. Massey's Euroleague career-high of 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds not only led Aris to a tough 77-73 victory, but it earned him Euroleague weekly MVP honors for the first time. But even more important was the fact that Aris joined a select group of teams at 3-0.
Lietuvos Rytas justified its reputation as a Euroleague road warrior with a 77-83 victory at Le Mans. The club not only remained undefeated, but its second win in as many road games this season leaves L. Rytas 6-3 alltime in Euroleague regular season road games. Chuck Eidson made his Euroleague debut, though it was the play of point guard Hollis Price, who hit big shots and finished with 25 points and 6 assists, that had the biggest impact on the win.
Maccabi Elite and its fans gave former coach David Blatt a warm welcome when he arrived on the Nokia Arena court to lead Efes Pilsen against the Israeli champs, but it was two newcomers who had no sentiments for him that led Maccabi to a 73-67 win. Esteban Batista scored 14 points in 17 minutes, including 6 during an 11-0 run that saw Maccabi race from back from a 9-point third-quarter deficit to regain the lead, and Terence Morris posted 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and a clutch three pointer in the final minute to lead the hosts.
A week after Unicaja erupted for 102 points in beating Cibona, coach Sergio Scariolo's squad used a defensive stand over most of the final quarter to defeat Armani Jeans Milano 65-74 on the road in Italy. Unicaja used a 0-15 run over seven minutes to decide the outcome. Daniel Santiago led the winners with 12 points, while Milano's bright spot was the play of teenage phenom Danilo Gallinari, who led all scorers with 18 points.
Panathinaikos could not contain Partizan's sensational center Nikola Pekovic, who dominated for 28 points on excellent percentages and 10 rebounds, but the Greens' Vassilis Spanoulis was there to guide head coach Zeljko Obradovic's team to a 90-94 win and a 3-0 record. The defending champs were tested by Pekovic, who tied it at 90-90 in the final minute. However Spanoulis and co. had enough down the stretch. Pekovic, who leads the league with 26.7 points per game this season, now has more points in the first three Euroleague games of the season this year than he did throughout the entire regular season last year.
 AXA FC Barcelona won its second home game in as many weeks, downing Chorale Roanne 82-76 at Palau Blaugrana. Mario Kasun was a force in the paint for Barca, posting a season-high 22 points on 9-of-12 two-point shooting. The hosts led for most of the evening, but the French champs never quit. Roanne's Brion Rush failed to score 20 points for the first time as his team dropped to 1-2.
Defense was the order of the day as Real Madrid bounced Brose Baskets 49-59. Felipe Reyes showed he is recovered from his back problems, as he led the winners with a double-double of 21 points on 8-of-9 two-point shooting and 12 rebounds. On the other end, no player even reached 10 points for the hosts, who lost for the second time at home.
Real Madrid allowed only 18 points in the second half.
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Friday, November 09, 2007
Euroleague.net
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